The tile in the kitchen is cracking
The stairs through the basement are sinking
Somebody told me I’m crazy
Thinking past the limits of thinking
The crevice in the ceiling is rusting
Who knows when it will cave in?
The image of a broken heart bursting
In the window that mirrors my skin

I am walking through this city
Trying to avoid the sidewalk cracks
Every step that I’m taking
I fear I’m under attack

They’re on to me
And I am scared to no end
Once I had the control
Rules were there to bend
But now they’re on to me
And I don’t know how to get out
The thought never crossed my mind
I’ve run out of time

The fire from the stove is blazing
Spreading throughout my home
I didn’t know what I was risking
Living here all alone
I could go out to the country
And hide there among the mountains
But sooner or later I’d grow thirsty
And wish I could drink from the fountains

I am walking through this city
Trying to avoid the sidewalk cracks
Every step that I’m taking
I fear I’m under attack

They're on to me
And I am scared to no end
Once I had the control
Rules were there to bend
But now they're on to me
And I don't know how to get out
The thought never crossed my mind
I've run out of time

A: They’re on to me? Ya know, that’s sort of an interesting one because before 9-11 I had started writing that song much more about something that was not a serious topic. I was a high school tutor, and I used to tutor this kid in English and History and stuff. And I wasn’t really good at tutoring, but I did it anyway cuz I had a connection with someone…Ya know, I was always nervous that the parents of this kid were gonna find out that I was a terrible tutor, and that the kid was not doing well because of me, basically, more than just the fact he had, like, A.D.D. or something. So I wasn’t really helping, and I knew it, and I just felt like, ya know, at some point I was going to get fired from that position. So that was how it started, but then, ya know it became more meaningful when 9-11 happened. Ya know, everybody in New York was just pretty frantic. And it’s still, ya know, in a lot of people’s minds, and mine too, that New York is a more fragile place than it ever was.

A: They’re on to me? Ya know, that’s sort of an interesting one because before 9-11 I had started writing that song much more about something that was not a serious topic. I was a high school tutor, and I used to tutor this kid in English and History and stuff. And I wasn’t really good at tutoring, but I did it anyway cuz I had a connection with someone…Ya know, I was always nervous that the parents of this kid were gonna find out that I was a terrible tutor, and that the kid was not doing well because of me, basically, more than just the fact he had, like, A.D.D. or something. So I wasn’t really helping, and I knew it, and I just felt like, ya know, at some point I was going to get fired from that position. So that was how it started, but then, ya know it became more meaningful when 9-11 happened. Ya know, everybody in New York was just pretty frantic. And it’s still, ya know, in a lot of people’s minds, and mine too, that New York is a more fragile place than it ever was.